Stricter Texting Regulations Pose Challenges for Network Marketing Companies and Distributors

By:  Noah Westerlund

Over the past 18 months, federal lawmakers have intensified pressure on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to do something about the ever-growing issue of unsolicited marketing texts. Given those pressures, the FCC and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have increased their efforts to regulate carriers’ texting practices. 

This regulatory push has significant implications for network marketing companies and their distributors. Essentially the FCC and FTC decided to broaden the net cast by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA Act) and the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM Act). The TCPA Act regulates telemarketing, including SMS messages and phone calls, while the CAN-SPAM Act covers email marketing.